Tax Knowledge, Tax Literacy, Learning Motivation, and Students’ Tax Understanding

Abstract

This study examines how tax knowledge, tax literacy, and learning motivation relate to tax understanding among tax accounting students at Politeknik Negeri Lampung. Primary data from 122 students in the 2022 and 2023 cohorts, selected through purposive sampling, were collected using a 16-item Likert-scale questionnaire and analyzed using multiple linear regression. Tax knowledge (β = 0.408, p < 0.001) and learning motivation (β = 0.268, p = 0.001) were positively and significantly associated with tax understanding, whereas tax literacy had a positive but nonsignificant coefficient (β = 0.166, p = 0.061). Jointly, the three variables were significant and explained 44.1% of the variation in tax understanding. Tax understanding is associated mainly with conceptual knowledge and sustained motivation to learn, while tax literacy acts as a supporting capability. The findings direct study programs to prioritize conceptual reinforcement and learning motivation and to embed literacy activities in case-based application. The purposive sample comes from one study program and all variables were measured with short self-report scales in a cross-sectional questionnaire, so the results indicate associations and cannot be generalized to all students.